Fanny Lambert : Can you tell us about the history of your gallery? What did you start out to accomplish?
Laure Roynette: Situated on the Rue de Thorigny in Paris, the gallery opened three years ago. My background is somewhat unusual. I went to business school and opened a gallery in 1993 on the Rue du Perche which, unfortunately, didn’t last long. I probably wasn’t ready yet. Still, I was able to make a career in the industry and keep in mind my passion for art and artists. Eventually I enrolled in contemporary art classes at the École du Louvre taught by Olivier Michelon and Bernard Blistène. It was wonderful. What’s important for me is the multitude of media and visions, and also the doubt expressed by contemporary art, which I would define through the curiosity of the world and mankind.
FL : How many artists do you represent now? And how much do you sell their work for?
LR : Today I represent about fourteen artists who have an exclusive four-year contract with the gallery. I think I could manage up to twenty. As for prices, they range from 1,500 to 50,000 euros.
FL : Many galleries today have become more like private offices that only receive clients by appointment. Have you considered that model? Do you still think it’s important to “hang out your shingle” as it were?
LR : I do this job because I love it, and I think that a gallerist is primarily an intermediary between the artist and the public, whether we’re talking about discerning collectors, art critics, artists or the greater public. So for me it’s essential to have a storefront and share what I do. I need to meet and talk with people, but I also need that physical relationship between the work and the people looking at it.
FL : Photography is everywhere these days. Is that a good thing for the discipline?
LR : A very good thing. Photography played an important part in the democratization of art. I think that, today, the medium of photography is no longer restricted to “traditional” practices. Photography is clearly a part of contemporary art and an essential tool for many artists. Today there are so many painter-photographers and sculptor-photographers.
FL : What are your customers like? How many of them are avid collectors?
LR : My clientele is diverse and constantly changing. Of course there are a few loyal and important collectors who contribute to the gallery’s influence at home and abroad. They play as great a role as the gallerist in making the work more visible. Then you have the “impulsive” purchases when someone falls in love with a work. But I wouldn’t say that my clientele is of a particular type, especially since they come from so many different countries.
FL : What or whose work sells best?
LR : I don’t sell any one artist more than another. I’m selling all of them, all of the time. But when there’s an exhibition, some works get greater visibility.
FL : Which art fairs are the most important and profitable for you? Which ones do you attend?
LR : For me, the most important fairs are FIAC and Art Basel. I’m not currently involved with the latter, but the gallery does participate in FIAC and the Slick Art Fair, which had a great location this year, a few steps from the Grand Palais in Paris. That’s a wonderful art fair and a very profitable one, too. The advantage of fairs is the concentration of collectors, all ready to buy something on the spot.
FL : Today, people buy photography because…?
LR : Because they love it! They like to delve into a vision of the world, and to be able to contemplate it at their leisure.
Interview by Fanny Lambert.
Read the full article on the French version of L’Oeil.
Galerie Laure Roynette
20 rue de Thorigny
75003 Paris
+33 (0) 6 08 63 54 41
Tuesday – Saturday 2pm – 7pm and by appointment.
Previous :
Luo Dan “Chine in The Eye”
January 31st – February 22nd, 2014
Current :
Anne Cindric “Parte Incognita”
March 15th – April 26th, 2014
